"Jerry, a former raceboat driver, has been operating the Roostertail, one of Detroit’s most successful and vibrant night clubs. He's been able to run a successful operation because he threw Tom out of the business.

"Tom, whose father was wise enough to keep him completely away from raceboats, is well known in the Detroit area as a master host and party-giver and is renowned for wearing ridiculously loud red suits that glow in the dark."

The two fun, yet controversial Schoenith twins, were prominent enough in 1971 for Detroit Mayor Roman S. Gribbs to declare July 7, 1971 "Tom and Jerry Schoenith Day" to celebrate the birthday the two well-known and successful Detroit brothers shared.

It’s been more than 40 years since then, and a lot has changed for the city and its “Fourth of July Twins,” whose family for decades was synonymous with party-going and -giving.

The Schoenith twins grew up in the ritzy Detroit suburb communities of Grosse Pointe, where anyone and everyone knew the name Schoenith. Considered suburban royalty, the family socialized with the likes of the Fords, Fishers and other prestigious families of the time.

The patriarch of the family, Joseph A. Schoenith, made a fortune in the '40s with W.D. Gale Inc., a Detroit-based electrical contracting firm.

Joseph had been employed by the corporation as an electrical engineer for a number of years. In 1942, he acquired all of the corporation's stock, with a promise to the retiring owner, Walter D. Gale, that he would never change the company name.

In 1943, as the company was thriving, Tom and Jerry were born on the Fourth of July. Their births marked the beginning of what continues to be a legacy like no other in Detroit.

One of the Christmas cards featuring Tom and Jerry from the Schoeniths (courtesy image).

The twins, although unbeknown to them, grew up in what we today would consider the 1 percent, with boats, servants and summer homes.

As they grew, so did the company. In the late-40s, as the company’s sales nearly tripled, Joseph Schoenith decided to enter into boat racing to promote business. In 1949, he purchased a boat with corporate funds and named it Gale.

In 1950, Lee Schoenith, oldest brother to Tom and Jerry in his early-20s, was the main driver of the boat.

Entering into boat racing would prove to be very profitable, yet controversial (more on Thursday), for the Schoenith family and Gale.

Following the success of boat racing, and a company that was grossing sales of nearly $6 million in 1955, according to IRS documents, Joseph opened the Roostertail on the Detroit River in 1958.

Racing, according to Jerry, spawned great attention for the company and family. In 1955, the Gale V won the Gold Cup race in Seattle, the unlimited class powerboat's equivalent of baseball's World Series.

After a court battle with the IRS over the legitimacy of boat racing to promote Gale in the early-60s, Jerry started driving the unlimited hydroplane Gale V. His older brother, Lee, was suffering from back problems. In 1964, Jerry was named "Rookie Driver of the Year," as the two twins started getting more into the Roostertail.

It all primarily started after the twins’ 21st birthday party, which included hundreds of their closest friends being bused to their summer home in Ontario, Canada.

An article by A.L. McClain on the opening of the Upper Deck.Courtesy image

Within a year after the party, Tom and Jerry opened up the“Upper Deck” inside the Roostertail in 1965. The club played Rock N’ Roll music, which at the time was still an up-and-coming genre.

“While nightclub owners looked at their empty tables and blamed it on the drizzly rain elsewhere in the city, young patrons stood in long lines at the Roostertail,” reads a 1965 article by the Detroit News’ A.L. McClain about the opening of the Upper Deck called, “Night Spot for the Young.”

Tom and Jerry had been around theRoostertail's operations since it opened, but the Upper Deck was all theirs.

Following the success of the Upper Deck, the two started “Motown Mondays” in 1966. The Four Tops opened the concert series. Opening night was recorded and released as "Live At The Roostertail." Each Monday there after the shows were broadcast live on radio.

Motown Mondays starred the Temptations, Marvelettes, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Martha Reeves and the Van Dellas, Tammi Terrel, David Ruffin, the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Spinners and the Funk Brothers plus many up and coming stars.

But when the 1967 Detroit riots occurred, things went south for everyone, including the Roostertail. To help it survive, performers and massive parties with 500-foot bars were the only way to get people from the suburbs to come back into the city, according to Jerry.

“I fought like Hell to keep the building open,” he said. “We took Detroit during the worst time and made it happen.”

In 1968, Tom primarily left operations at the Roostertail to Jerry, as he focused on the day-to-day operations of Gale’s other companies.

View full sizeTom Schoenith (left) works on the Palm River Club in an undated photo (courtesy image).

For the next decade, the Upper Deck and rooms in the Roostertail Entertainment Complex, which is its offical name, continuously changed names, including Jerry’s Roostertail, the Palm River Club and Mud Hut.

Gale, which Tom became president and chief operating officer in 1976, also was taking a turn for the worst.

Following business and family squabbles in 1981, Jerry sued Tom and Lee for allegedly misusing company money for expensive parties, domestic help, home improvements and other personal expenditures.

The lawsuit was the beginning of the end for Gale, which then employed 2,000 people with nine subsidiary companies, including the Roostertail, which became a catering business in 1979.

Following the lawsuit, the twins distanced themselves for years. Although talking now, the twins lead, and have led, their different lives.

“Everything between Jerry and I are fine,” Tom told MLive during a phone interview earlier this year from Hollywood.

Tom, who continues to own the Roostertail (more on Saturday), is jet-setting around the country, spending a lot of time in California and Florida. His son, Michael Schoenith, is now managing day-to-day operations of the Roostertail.

The Roostertail continues to do well from a business standpoint as well as a symbol of Detroit, according to Michael.

Jerry lives in St. Clair Shores and for years has been documenting the family’s history for a book he is hoping to write about the Roostertail, his family and boat racing called.

From the time since the lawsuit, Jerry continued in boat racing as an owner, becoming a world champion owner in 1983 with Miss Renault Elf. He also started, and headed, the Automotive Thunderboat Association in 1987, which lasted one season.

Tom and Jerry Schoenith's 21st birthday party included 500 of their closest friends being bussed to their summer home in Canada. (courtesy image)